LOUISIANA – Louisiana’s continued unemployment claims have been on the rise since mid-March, as industries such as accommodation and food service, arts and recreation, and management have seen claims surge.
While claims are still far below their peak during the COVID-19 pandemic, continued claims have been on the rise in the state since the week of March 20, when the state had just over 37,800 continued claims — the lowest point since the onset of the pandemic in Louisiana. For the week ending April 10, claims had risen to nearly 49,000.
The recent surge in unemployment claims has been largely due to rises in claims in certain industries. Accommodation and food service, for example, had about 5,400 continued claims for the week of March 20. For the week of April 10, claims in the industry had jumped by nearly 4,500 — an increase of 83.5%.
The same was true for arts and recreation and management. During the week of March 20, the arts and recreation industry had around 600 continued claims. Claims increased by about 500, or 79%, during the week of April 10.
Unemployment claims in the management industry totaled 203 for the week of March 20, but claims increased by 132 — 65% — the week of April 10.
The state also saw a spike in first-time unemployment claims around the same period. From the week of March 20 through the week of April 10, the state had nearly 40,000 new unemployment claims.
The surge came as the state had seen encouraging signs for its economy. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released data last week showing that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped from 7.6% in February to 7.3% in March as the state added around 3,600 jobs.
The 7.3% unemployment rate is the state’s lowest since the pandemic began.
“As we near the one year anniversary of the Covid-19 impact on the state’s workforce, we are proud to say nearly 130,000 people have returned to work,” said Louisiana Workforce Commission Secretary Ava Dejoie in a press release. “Our HiRE site currently has tens of thousands of job openings as we continue our drive to full employment”
According to the Louisiana Workforce Commission, nearly every metro area in the state added jobs from February to March. Here’s how the individual metro areas improved:
- Alexandria added 700 jobs from February 2021, but is down 1,200 jobs from March 2020.
- Baton Rouge lost 600 jobs from February 2021 and has lost 18,100 jobs from March 2020.
- Hammond gained 100 jobs from February 2021, but has lost 1,200 jobs from March 2020.
- Houma added 100 jobs from February 2021, but has lost 4,400 jobs from March 2020.
- Lafayette gained 1,400 jobs from February 2021, but lost 12,900 jobs from March 2020.
- Lake Charles added 300 jobs from February 2021, but is down 17,400 jobs from March 2020.
- Monroe gained 100 jobs from February 2021, but has lost 3,800 jobs from March 2020.
- New Orleans lost 1,400 jobs from February 2021 and has lost 55,400 jobs from March 2020.
- Shreveport added 200 jobs from February 2021, but is down 11,900 jobs from March 2020.
